Thank you for sharing this poem, Karen. I was struck by its title and immediately applied to the here and now for me. I'm doing some PD tomorrow and the teachers explicitly said they don't want to talk about the research or rationale or even the content. They want me to show them what the instruction looks like, feels like, in the classroom. They want how to think about the instruction to plan their routines and lessons. They don't want the "Ideas About the Thing but the Thing Itself."

Very thoughtful, as Stevens' poems are, Karen - thanks for sharing. He always paid close attention to what poetry was and how it affected readers, and this provides a lot to consider! Thanks for reminding me about him; I recall reading once that he had to take a break from writing for several years while helping raise his daughter, which is good for someone like me (who has less and less time to write) to keep in mind!

The "No-Panic Advent" Series

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